Abstract:

The vague boundary between word and phrase could be understood in two senses: a given expression is neither a typical word nor a typical phrase and there is a “gap” occurred; during the development of language, mutual transition between words and phrases happen and the crossing-borderline is not obvious. Structurally, words, particularly compound words, and phrases share similarity with concept, both with core components and periphery components, and also with different performances. The status of an expression could be defined through the analysis of the three functions of concept: categorization, inference and conceptual combination.

Key words: vague boundary, word, phrase, concept